Gone
by Shadow19
Summary: The Golden Trio has grown up and made lives for themselves. But an attack from the remaining Death Eaters claims the life of one of the Trio, and leaves the other two broken and shattered. One shot, song fic. R


She Can't Really Be Gone

She Can't Really Be Gone

The Golden Trio has grown up and made lives for themselves. But an attack from the remaining Death Eaters claims the life of one of the Trio, and leaves the other two broken and shattered.

This is a Ron/Hermione story. One shot, song fic. I do not own the song; it belongs to Tim McGraw. And I do not own Harry Potter, lucky for him.

"English."

"_Song lyrics."_

_Thoughts/writing._

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

She Can't Really Be Gone

Ron Weasley stood in the doorway to his home. His red hair was a mess and his normally brilliant blue eyes were dull and bloodshot. His face was pale, and tear streaked, and he looked like death had grabbed at his heart. And it had.

Looking around at what had once been his home broke his heart. Something caught his eye and he slowly turned his head. Hanging on the coat rack was Hermione's favorite hat, the one she had bought in Mexico on their honeymoon trip around the world. His felt his heart crack again. _She loved that hat; she'd never just leave it._ _She can't be gone._

_"Her hat is hanging by the door  
The one she bought in Mexico  
It blocked the wind, it stopped the rain  
She'd never leave that one  
So she can't be really gone."_

Ron bit back a sob and fled down the hall blindly. With a shocked cry he stumbled, almost falling. Looking down he backed up in shock, his back hitting the wall behind him, the only thing holding him up. Her favorite shoes, the black fur boots she had bought on Christmas Eve. They're waiting for her. She can't be gone.

_"The shoes she bought on Christmas Eve  
She laughed and said they called her name  
it's like they're waiting in the hall  
for her to slip them on  
so she can't be really gone."_

Trembling the redhead moved into their, his, bedroom. Ron paused at his reflection in the mirror. He was muddied and bloodstained. It wasn't his blood. He gagged but fought back against the reflex valiantly.

Ron brokenly fidgeted with his singed and bloodied tie, one that she had bought for him.

He watched in the mirror as Hermione set her book down and rose from their bed and moved across the room to straighten his tie, pressing her body to his back. Smiling at him lovingly, she pressed the side of her face to his shoulder.

_"I don't know when she'll come back  
She must intend to come back  
And I've seen the error of my ways  
Don't waste the tears on me  
What more proof do you need  
Just look around the room  
So much of her remains."_

Ron whipped around, longing to take her in his arms and look into her beautiful brown eyes again.

Hermione wasn't there.

The redhead whipped back and forth searching for the bookworm that he loved so much, the woman who had stolen his heart from the beginning.

The man, that was her husband, cried out in anguish as he spotted the book lying on the bed, exactly where she had left it that very morning. She would never leave a book unfinished. "She can't be gone."

_"Her book is lying on the bed  
The two of hearts to mark her page  
Now who could ever walk away at chapter 21  
So she can't be really gone."_

Tears flowed freely down pale cheeks as he sat down on the edge of the bed, her book in his hands. His sobs were anguished, pain-filled, and painful. His shoulders shook and his body trembled.

Ron set the book back in the spot he had found it; his hand paused as it brushed against the nightgown she had worn that night. He carefully picked it up and brought it to his nose.

Strawberries and mild vanilla reached his nose. Ron's heart shattered. It was her, all of it was her.

Her scent filled his nose and drowned him. Ron struggled for breath and flung the nightgown from him, shaking.

Everything was as they had left it. "She's coming back." He slid from the bed to his knees, and for the first time in his life he prayed. "Please, whatever god or deity or immortal or entity is out there, please just let her come back. Don't let her be gone."

Silence was his only answer. He screamed and slammed his fists into the floor. Ron's cries filled the silence, but did nothing to heal what was let of his heart.

"_I don't know when she'll come back  
She must intend to come back  
And I've seen the error of my ways  
Don't waste the tears on me  
What more proof do you need  
Just look around the room  
So much of her remains."  
_

With sharp, jerky movements he rose, looking very dead, from the inside out. His breathing was shallow and his eyes turned gray, his skin ashen.

Ron stood staring into the mirror.

Harry Potter appeared in a roar of green flames. "Ron?" He dusted himself as he called worriedly for his friend. He had tried to follow Ron as soon as he could. "Ron?" He searched through every room till he found the tall redhead in the master bedroom, stroking the mirror.

Ron tilted his head to the side and slowly turned to face Harry. He looked like a puppet whose strings had been cut. "Hello Harry."

Harry shivered, and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. "Ron." The raven slowly stepped forwards and rests a hand on his best friends arm. "Are you… oh, bloody hell."

He sighed and closed his eyes fighting back his own tears and trying to keep his broken heart in check.

_  
"Just look around this room  
So much of her remains."_

Tired, and hurting, Harry wrapped his arms around his best friend and buried his face into the redhead's shoulder; all his height could afford him to reach.

It was the final straw for Ron. He wrapped his arms around the smaller male and began to sob brokenly, sinking to the floor, taking Harry with him.

"She can't be gone. There's so much left undone. She didn't finish her book."

Harry choked on his tears and cradled Ron to him as the redhead sank lower to the floor. "She's gone Ron. Hermione's not coming back."

"Her book is lying on the bed  
The two of hearts to mark her page  
Now who could ever walk away with so much left undone  
So she can't be really gone"

The day of Hermione Weasley's funeral was bleak and gray and rainy, as if even the heavens were mourning her passing.

Ron and Harry stood side-by-side, holding hands to share in their grief and give one another support.

So many people had come together to mourn the passing of the brilliant young witch. Hermione had touched so many lives.

Ron stood blank and unmovable through the entire service. As it finished and people shared their condolences with Ron and Mr. and Mrs. Granger before leaving the depressing area as quickly as they could.

Ron stepped forwards to the fresh grave and new headstone.

_Hermione Jane Weasley _

_January 21st 1979-September 11th 2001_

_Beloved Daughter, Sister, and Wife _

_With a Brilliant Mind and Golden Heart_

_You Will Be Missed_

Ron tilted his head back and let the rain mingle with the tears on his face. An anguished howl ripped form his throat end echoed through the cemetery. Crows that had gathered to watch in the skeletal trees scattered.

Those people still around shivered and felt their hearts break again for the young man who had lost his wife before he had truly had the chance to be with her.

Ron dropped to his knees in the wet grass and touched his head to the stone that marked where his beloved lay. "You can't really be gone."

"_No she can't be really gone."_

RWRWRWRWRWRWRWRWRWRWRWRWRWRWRWRWRWRWRWRWRWRW

Please, please, please review and tell me what you think. I normally don't focus on Ron or Hermione much, but this popped into my head.

And for those of you who haven't yet, please read my other stories Wolf Moon or Convictions. I'm greedy and need more reviews.


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